Spinach and pancetta co-star in a tortellini dish that’s a perfect antidote to winter’s chill
One key to being a successful home cook is having a well-stocked pantry. But to be truly well-stocked is to understand that your “pantry” should stretch beyond the cabinet to the fridge and freezer.
This month’s recipe — a brothy tortellini with pancetta and spinach — utilizes three ingredients I always have stored in these spaces.
A quick note on each: Any decent brand of tortellini should do the trick; it can stay frozen for many months. As for the broth, however, there’s only one way to go. Better Than Bouillon is a concentrated paste made from roast chicken, beef, or vegetables that you dilute in water. It will last literally a couple of years once opened, as long as you put it in the fridge. Finally, there’s the pancetta. The shelf life of this last one varies a bit. If you buy the prepackaged diced cubes, the expiration date can be up to several months. But even the kind you get from the butcher will last a couple of weeks because it’s cured.
All of these ingredients are staples. I use the tortellini for quick weeknight meals — topped with butter and Parmesan, say, or tossed with tons of arugula, lemon, and olive oil. The Better Than Bouillon gives soups, stews, and pan sauces more depth than you get with water. For its part, the pancetta adds a chewy, meaty bite to other pasta dishes, rice pilafs, frittatas, and more.
For this dish, start by dicing ½ of a small white or yellow onion. (In fact, I also consider onions to be a pantry staple. I always have a bowl of them piled in the fridge, which helps mellow their tear-inducing enzymes and extends their life even longer than if you were to leave them on the counter. It takes months, I find, for the texture to degrade.) Weigh 2 ounces of pancetta. If you bought the prepackaged kind (which usually comes in 4 ounces), store the leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge. If you bought a whole chunk, dice it into small pieces, not that much bigger than your diced onion.
Place a two- or three-quart pot over medium heat and drizzle in about a tablespoon of olive oil. Add the onion and pancetta at the same time and let it sizzle, stirring occasionally, until the pancetta has taken on a deeper color and the onion has softened, about seven minutes. (Although my recipes often call for adding salt in stages, this is a rare instance where, between the meat and the Better Than Bouillon, you don’t need any more than the ingredients bring on their own.)
Add 2 cups of water to the pot, along with 2 teaspoons of Better Than Bouillon. I think the beef bouillon is too intense in this recipe, so I use chicken, but feel free to go with vegetable, too. Turn up the heat to medium-high and stir until the paste is dissolved and evenly distributed. Let the liquid come to a simmer. Place the lid on the pot to keep the water from evaporating, and let it go for about 10 minutes, until the flavors meld.
Add 3½ ounces of cheese tortellini (or a little bit more than a healthy handful). You’ll have leftovers from any standard package, but just seal those in an airtight bag and put them back in the freezer. Cook the tortellini for about 3 minutes total, or according to the instructions on the package. In the last minute, add 3 ounces of spinach, stirring so it wilts. If you don’t want to weigh it, you can easily measure this with a couple of big handfuls; it shrinks so quickly you can eyeball an amount that looks good to you as you go.
You’ll notice that the broth-to-tortellini ratio is close here. It resembles the classic Italian dish tortellini en brodo, the best of a soup and a pasta, with all the warming, comforting qualities of both — and with everything you need right at hand.
Emma Wartzman is the kitchen and dining writer at New York Magazine’s the Strategist.
Additional photo illustration credits: bowl photo by Emma Wartzman
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